Power Of Observation
The First Step of Learning Process…
There are myriad definitions of observation on the internet. Each field has its own explanation about the word observation according to their area of work i.e. Let’s take Machine Learning where we observe the model and evaluate its performance and try to make it better. Likewise psychological observation
involves studying the spontaneous reactions or act of participants or people in various natural environments or surroundings.
There are fixed steps of observation in academics or working life like if a person is a Software Engineer, so there are some predefined rules and manuals in which plenty of methods are mentioned about “observe or test software in different scenarios and platforms. People can learn this type of observation technique just by reading manuals and documentation.
But in real life, there aren’t manuals and documentations of observing unpredictable life. We know that Humans are the most complex creation of God as each and every person has their own point of view and thought about distinct situations Hence observe a person is not a piece of cake and is time-consuming. But it can be learned and worth it.
“Observation is like a muscle. It grows stronger with use and atrophies without use. Exercise your observation muscle and you will become a more powerful decoder of the world around you.”
— Joe Navarro
For example, Pick one of your school or college friends and try to notice his/her reaction, how and at what pace and speed he/she speaks, body language, behavior, facial expressions in various real-life situations like the pressure of an exam, nervousness, getting a good score, get failed in the examination, etc. This will help you to understand him/her very constructively.
That’s how you can decide how to behave and act with him/her in different conditions like some people want to be alone when they are under stress and some people like to talk with somebody to share their situation or problem which give them a sense of relief after or during the conversation.
Another example is parents, there are no other best observers in children's lives than their parents. Parents are extremely optimal observers. They always know how their children think and behave in various situations. Like my parents, honestly, I am a very introvert person. I don't like to share my thoughts and problems easily with anyone but my parents always get to know that I’m in a problem or in a difficult situation. I don’t know how but they do.
Meanwhile, they also keep observing children’s surroundings like friends, school or college, or work environment to keep their children away from being hurt as they are the only people in children’s lives who won’t think bad of their children. I think protectiveness, love as well as fear of watching their children being hurt make them good observers. Hence people can learn how to observe and handle various conditions effectively and make decisions from observation from their parents. Otherwise, Life would make them.
“There is no better teacher than life itself.”
— Raveena Tandon
Apart from that, observing your surrounding will help you to become claver and smart as there are many threats which are roaming around you. If you are a good observer you always be careful and active which keeps you away from getting hurt financially, Physically, Mentally, and in many other ways. Additionally, it will enhance your knowledge and make you a broad-minded person with patience, creativity, excellent problem-solving skills, and many more capabilities and expertise.
Moreover, self-observation is also important like what you like and don’t like how you behave and think in different situations which include your speech, physical actions, facial expressions, body language, etc. By observing yourself, you are giving yourself a chance to become a better person.
You can also get many benefits from observing others’ successes and failures. You can determine what step or decision he or she has made which has brought him/her to a certain position(either good or bad) and from them you can think and make your own decision according to your knowledge and observation but after considering that person’s example.
“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under the observation in life.”
— Marcus Aurelius
Let’s understand why Observation is the first and significant step of Learning through one example….
Suppose you are planning to learn a new language which you didn’t learn from your childhood let’s take French is the language you want to learn.
what if I ask you how you’ll learn more efficiently? I know your answer, you would say joining classes or picking online courses or starting learning from let’s say YouTube.but what if I ask you how you’ll become better at it? your answer might be by practicing, listening, trying to use it in real life. Yes, these are some ways to learn a new language but there are not just optimal ones.
The first step to start to learn a new language is to observe native people of that language how they speak(tone and speed of talking), behavior while speaking, facial expressions, body language, whether you understand what they are saying or talking about or not but keep observing it will help you to feel a language and determine emotions like happiness, anger, sadness, etc.
Then you can start learning it by learning grammar or translating to your mother tongue. after knowing a few words or alphabets and their meaning again watch the same video of native people and now try to understand what they are saying. But at this stage too you need to keep observing while understanding. Then you can move one to other techniques practicing, listening. we all know that “practice makes a man perfect”.
“If you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talk.”
— Robert Baden-Powell
THAT’S WHY I THINK OBSERVATION IS THE PILLAR AND FIRST STEP OF LEARNING…….
“Like each building needs a strong base to stand out for a long time, likely to be a better learner whether at academics or in an unpredictable life we need to be a good observer and decoder.”
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